I gave CNET Editors’ Choice awards to Baseus’ Bose-infused Baseus Inspire XH1 headphones and Inspire XP1 earbuds because they’re well designed and sound decent for what they cost. I also liked Baseus’ Inspire XC1 clip-on earbuds, which have dual- drivers and earned a spot on CNET’s best clip-on earbuds list. 

Last week all three models were selling for around $110 (though they have higher list prices), but they’re now discounted to around $100 for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s a deal I’d highlight on its own, but if you click through to any of those models’ Amazon product pages an look closely you’ll see that each is eligible for «one free item» with purchase. 

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025

You have to click the «how to claim link» and then add one of the three products to the your cart. Once one of the headphones or earbuds is added to your cart, you can click a button on the left side of screen (above the stars for average ratings) that switches the view from «qualifying items» to «benefit items.» You can then add Baseus’s BC1 clip-on earbuds, which list for $40, to your cart as a free item. Baseus’ step-up Basues MC1 Pro ($48 for Black Friday) and Inspire XC1 clip-on buds sound better, but the BC1 are fine for casual use.

If the BC1 earbuds option doesn’t thrill you, there are other freebies you can opt for. Just go back to the Amazon product page for the Inspire XH1, XP1 and XC1 and you’ll see options for one free item with $100, $90, $51 and $46 purchases. The $90 benefit item is a 30W dual-port fast charger (list price $20), which is decent, and the $51 benefit item is a retractable USB-C cable ($19 list) that’s useful. Don’t bother with the $46 benefit item. 

You can read my full reviews of the Inspire XH1 headphones here and the Inspire XP1 earbuds here. And here’s my quick take of the Inspire XC1 earbuds:

Like Baseus’ noise-isolating Inspire XP1 earbuds that I rated highly, the Inspire XC1 feature «Sound by Bose» and a more premium design than earlier Baseus earbuds. The XC1 don’t sound as good as the XP1, but they sound good for open earbuds and are equipped with dual drivers, one of which is a Knowles balanced-armature driver that helps improve treble performance. While they don’t produce as much bass as noise-isolating earbuds like the Inspire XP1, their bass performance is better than I expected. The buds’ sound is pretty full, especially in quieter environments, though they do better with less bass-heavy material (I did notice a bit of distortion at higher volumes with certain tracks with harder driving bass).

While I prefer the design and fit of Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds (as well as the design of their case) and think the Bose buds sound more natural and a tad better overall, the much more affordable Inspire XC1 fit comfortably and offer top-tier sound for clip-on open earbuds (and they play louder than the Bose), as well as decent voice-calling performance with good background noise reduction.

Read more: Best Black Friday headphones deals  

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has a holiday theme. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: With gratitude.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Today’s the day.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• MALE, MALES, DIAL, THEY, HONK, WRIT, ENDS, HEAL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• FOOD, LIFE, FAMILY, FRIENDS, HEALTH, WORK, COMMUNITY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THANKFUL. To find it, start with the T that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind up and across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT. 

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

If you’re in the market for a new pair of earbuds this Black Friday, now’s your chance to get them. We’ve found a great discount on the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 thanks to the Cyber Week festivities. They’re among the best wireless earbuds as our top pick for Android users and, at just $134, they’re a bargain to boot.

That’s a new low for these earbuds, but do be aware that it only applies to the moonstone color currently. That could change at any moment, though, so make sure to check the price of the other colors if moonstone isn’t your thing. Either way, we don’t expect this price to last for long, so order sooner rather than later. 

The earbuds provide noticeably improved sound quality and noise cancellation compared to their predecessor. They’re built with Google’s powerful Tensor A1 chip and designed to offer rich, immersive sound. It’s the first time a Google Tensor chip has been featured in any earbuds and the result is robust active noise cancellation and advanced sound.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds deliver deep bass with their built-in 11 mm drivers and a new high-frequency chamber for smoother treble. CNET’s audio expert David Carnoy noted that compared to the original Pixel Buds Pro, «there’s more depth and richness to the sound with better overall definition and extension.» Read his full review of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 to get the full lowdown.

These buds also got a design upgrade, with Google making them 27% smaller and 24% lighter to securely fit even more ear types. If you want to wear them during workouts, there’s a twist-to-adjust stabilizer to help lock your earbuds in place while you’re moving around and sweating.

There’s also a conversation detection feature that pauses your music and switches your earbuds to the transparency mode if you start talking. And with an impressive 30-hour battery life, you can listen to all your favorite songs, audiobooks and podcasts for hours on end without having to recharge.

Why this deal matters

At $134, these earbuds are a great buy thanks to advanced active noise cancellation, impressive sound quality and a lengthy battery life. The current deal makes the Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds cheaper than ever. But the deal won’t be around for long, so act fast if you want to take advantage of this awesome discount.